ranjan

The factors leading into formation of OPEC are - 1)  Oil companies - Monopoly of seven major oil companies - five US companies , one each      English company and English - Dutch company. 2) Venezuela oil related activities- Due to movement by increasing oil taxes. In fact, this was     the first step towards creating OPEC. 3) Movement for Nationalisation of oil industry by Mid - East countries. 4) Reduction in oil prices- Around 1959, US companies unilaterally reduced price by 18 cents     to 25 cents per Barrel. 5) Arab countries insistence- for creation of organisation for protecting their interest.        FORMATION OF OPEC- The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent inter governmental organisation created at Baghdad conference on Sept. 10 - 14, 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia & Venezuela. It had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in first five years of its existence...

Japanese call Japan as "NIHON" or "NIPPON". Nippon is official pronunciation on Bank notes and postal stamps. Japanese "Yen" is the currency used in Japan since one dollar is (app.) equivalent to 111 Japanese yens. Japan is known as a country virtually with no natural resources like oil, gas, coal iron etc.Japan is a mixed economy since Govt. controls some of the production in the market. It is also run by private corporations & is competitive due to trade tariffs & quotas which the Govt. had put in place. Its trading partner is USA. Japan should be regarded as a socialist country and not as a  capitalist.The monarchy in Japan is with a limited role of Emperor relegated to ceremonial duties.The major cities are Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, & Nagoya.    From 1852 to 1945, Japan was motivated by a deep desire to avoid the fate of China and become a great power. Japanese expansion in East Asia began in 1931 with invasion of Manchuria and continued till...

UAE consists of seven Emirates founded and declared their independence from Britain on 2nd December, 1971 as a federation. Six of the emirates, i.e. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah & Umm Al Quwain combined on that date. Ras Al Khaimah joined on 10th February, 1972. The total population of seven emirates is 8.3 million ( 38% live in Abu Dhabi, 30% in Dubai, rest in other  areas of Emirates). UAE has never been a British colony but have come under British protection. For centuries, region was involved in rival ties between local Emirs on Land and Pirates on sea. Britain began attacking pirates to protect its trade with India. This led to ties with the Heads of the areas which continued  till 1971 when agreement was terminated. It was due to Britain's imperial overreach exhausted politically and bankrupt financially, Britain decided to abandon thee states. UAE became member of Arab league and member of United Nations in 1971.The country is also a member of OPE...

History of U.K. be whatever may be, a power in Europe by various ups and downs over the passage of time in terms of administration, currency, having dominance in different countries, getting involved in two world wars, faced devaluations of its currency, inflation among others, U.K.is as of now, a western style democracy operating under free market economic growth. It has many similarities to social democracies of European Union. But in many ways, U.K.is more conservative economically. It consists of four countries namely England, North Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  U.K.is the first country in the world to become industrialized and today on an average 14 people works for mining, manufacturing & building sector for every one in agriculture sector.The only major secondary industry that is growing is the construction industry, fuelled by  Economic growth  by growing Services, Administrative, Financial services sectors. It dominates the economy contributing about 80% of ...

Gold has a metallic element with melting point at 1064 degree centigrade and boiling point at 2808 degree centigrade. Gold effects Indian economy because it is a non-productive asset. It does not add to any real value of productive capacity of the economy. Most of the Gold purchased in India gets converted into jewellery or kept in lockers and safe boxes. Those who hold are waiting for it to appreciate so that they earn some income and return on investment or to increase their wealth. Gold in India is used as a form for tackling inflation and holding because its rarity is a better way to counter the fluctuations in currency. Gold is the most stable investment which is why every country has a Gold reserve managed by its central bank. Any decision taken by the bank regarding Gold reserves can have impact on Gold rates. Govt. policies can also have a direct or indirect impact on Gold rates.Gold imports directly effects Current Account Deficit (CAD). Large CAD with respect of GDP mak...

 Many investors believe that changes in Gold prices can have an impact on the economy. It is typical to note that Gold prices reflects economy rather than causing them. Gold prices reflects changes in the value of Dollars compared to other foreign currencies. In 1792, USA established fixed price of Gold in terms of Dollars. Gold and Silver became the legal tender in USA as the Spanish Rial (a silver coin) of Spanish empire. U.S. mint legally required to buy & sell Gold & Silver at the rate of 15 parts of Silver to 1 part of Gold. When Dollar is strong, it reflects (even if Gold prices remains same) Gold will be expensive in foreign countries whose currencies have declined in value. This tends to cut demand and put pressure on Gold prices pushing them down in Dollar terms. The opposite is true when Dollar weakens, because of falling prices in foreign currency makes Gold cheaper to purchase, thus raising demand and pushing Gold prices upward. When economy weakens, it ...

The economy of Germany developed after the end of World War II in 1945 is a highly developed social market economy in the world. It has the fourth largest nominal GDP in the world and is a founding member of European Union. It allows free market economy in consumer goods and business services and imposes regulations in those areas to protect citizens. It has been found a perfect mix of capitalism and socialism in economy thus allowing them to prosper economically and socially. Due to its central geographic location, Germany is in interface with new markets of Southern and Eastern Europe. In global trading of goods and services, Germany is in second place after USA Germany stands out as a center of business through : - Innovative and internationally active companies - Developed infrastructure - Qualified and motivated employees - Internationally recognized education system - Top achievement in Research and Development Main industries in Germany are Automotive, Chemicals, Meta...

European Union was created on 1st November, 1993 by Maastricht Treaty between European countries in Netherlands. Six founding member countries of European Union are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands, with U.K., Denmark and Ireland joining in 1973. As of now, European Union is a union of 28 European countries sharing Political and Economic relations. It was set up to end frequent wars between Neighbours which culminated into second world war. It has four institutions which work together- European Union, European parliament, Council of European Union and Court of Justice. It was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 for promoting Peace, Human Rights and Democracy in Europe. The Maastricht treaty officially known as Treaty on European Union sets out beginning of a new era of starting process of creating closer union among the people of Europe. It laid foundation of a single currency - Euro - and expanded co-operation between European countries. It was signed on 7t...

At the outset, it is important to understand that all currencies across different countries are effected mostly by the same economic factors. To be specific, primarily following five factors effects the currencies are: i)     Monetary policy ii)    Price inflation iii)   Confidence/Sentiment iv)   GDP - Economic Growth v)    Balance of Payments Pound sterling is one of the most popular currencies in the Foreign Exchange market. It is the considered to be the oldest actively traded currency, Its origin is traced to specie based Sterling which was in the form of a silver coin in 775 AD. At present, this is one among the six strong currencies as compared to Dollar. The other five currencies are- Euros, Bahrain Dinar, Kuwaiti Dinar, Latvian Lats and the Omani Rials. The use of Sterling for trade within Britain continued till 1694 when Bank of England was formed. The Bank assumed the duties of printing paper bank notes represen...

The ability to create jobs, future growth is built up on free market. It is to be noted that every truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is opposed and third it is self evident.The purpose of mentioning is that these facts are to be kept in mind while going through what is stated  now. Also, these issues shall give better results and shall gain importance if implemented in time, otherwise it shall lose its glare.  Following activities shall give a boost to job creation. 1) Renovation, refurbishing of old forts, palaces lying unused for decades in the states and convert          and develop them as Tourist spots. It will certainly create jobs, increase tourism and earnings     (even foreign exchange) for the state. Development as also their maintenance will create more job     prospects. It will also create development in the adjoining areas and could be a source of earning    for the p...

The moment and place when human governments developed is lost in time. However, history does record the formation of Govt. about 5000 years back. First small city-states came into existence and by second millennium some of them developed into larger governed areas. The word "government" derives from a Greek word. Government is a system or group of people governing an organised community. Main purpose of the Govt. is to seek welfare of civilians and fulfill their needs for betterment of the nation.  At present, there are five types of governments. These are- -  Democracy/ -                - Govt. in which ruling power is by the people, for the people and of the     Republic                          people but following set of rules i.e. the constitution. -  Monarchy -                  -  Govt. in which is...

U.S. dollar is strongest currency which supports U.S. economy. The reason is that more than one -third countries of the world's gross domestic product comes from countries that peg their currencies to dollars. A strong economy will attract investment from all over the world due to perceived safety and ability to achieve return on investment. Since investors seek higher yield on investment particularly from abroad, creates a strong capital account and high demand for dollars. Economic losses of World War have resulted into destruction of capital, trade, human suffering, spread of diseases, displacement of people and destruction of environment among others. Bretton Woods system In the post war scenario, need was felt to have a system to control value of money between different countries. It means that each country had to have a monetary policy that kept exchange rate of its currency within a fixed value - plus or minus one percent - in terms of Gold.This system was agreed upon ...

It was about 500 years before Christopher Columbus, Vikings set foot in North America and established a settlement there. Spain was the first European power to sponsor the voyages of Christopher Columbus which settled and colonize areas of North to South America. The first British colony -Virginia was founded in 1607 and last was Georgia in 1732. By 1650, England established a dominant presence in Atlantic coast. America is named after Amerigo Vestpucci, a Italian exporter who set forth the concept that lands Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 was part of a separate continent. Before 1776, USA was not a country. Individual states were colonies of British empire ruled by King and parliament of British empire. They ruled for about 169 years till 1776 when the American revolution began in 1776 till 1783 when 13 colonies became USA. Spain gave support to USA by signing treaty with France and went to war against Britain. Trapped between American and french forces on land and fren...

Managing Public finances is a vital source of development policies of the Govt. leading to poverty alleviation and growth. It is management of country's Revenue (e,g, tax collections), Expenditure, Debt loads, Budget, Deficit/Surplus. Good policies can do and sail whereas good management of public finances contributes to make trust. The key elements of  perfect financial management are: i)   Fiscal framework ii)  Budget preparation iii) Budget execution iv) Accounting and sequencing of  reforms  v) Control and audit It promotes- a) How Govt. allocates resources, b) Promote sustainability, and c) Transparency and oversight mechanisms. It is the responsibility of the Govt. to implement fiscal policy through Budget. Sometimes informal laws of behaviour becomes important but priortising and sequencing of activities are essential as also basics. Following issues be taken into account while making public finance policy. I)   Management of reso...

  Indian Rupee and Devaluation  Indian Rupee was settled at Rs.13/- per pound and dollar @ Re.1/-  in 1947 after partition. It continued up to 1966 when first devaluation took place. This was carried out since Govt, was consistently facing balance of payment deficit since 1950 and failure of Govt. efforts to revive and have positive trade balance Moreover, war with Pak in 1965 and cutting off of foreign aid by USA and other countries fueled the crisis.Rise in fuel prices all around did put pressure on inflation as well.  In 1991, second devaluation took place due to downward pressure on Indian Rupee from international markets. It was a part of Economic reforms.The restrictions were relaxed on imported capital goods. Import Export policy replaced import quotas with tariffs causing major overhaul of trade policy Devaluation is undertaken as a means of correcting deficit in balance of payments.        Foreign Exchange variations and causes F...

As the saying goes, one should not be too honest since straight trees are cut at ease. It is a factual statement.We were taught never to quit the job since we expect that we are following wiser people than ourselves. These are feelings of most of the people who have suffered due to exercising their duties honestly since some people sitting at the helm of affairs of the institution feels delighted in blaming them for their own faults. Since they are at a good position they consider themselves as taken for granted. In the course of performing duties, some misunderstandings are created by Seniors themselves without going into the performance record of employees who have dedicated their life in bringing up the institutions. The result are so severe that they are asked to quit abruptly for no fault of theirs. Such situations do cause a damage to the institution in the long run. So, this is how the price, honest employees has to pay which has got no option as to where to go.    ...

 Corruption emanates from individual's mind.  The attitude in the human mind is the sole fabricator of one's behaviour. If not used in a proper manner, it can create wrong actions in the mind of person who when acts, leads to corruption. A view of the the following shall do well to understand such action:-  It was during British rule, before independence, an employee working in the Deptt. was found to be corrupt. Since he was a loyal worker, he was transferred to the port and duty was to count the sand bags put into sea to stop the waves hitting at shore. After some time, he was found to be making wrong entries in the record as more bags were shown as used than actually done and making money from the difference of bags shown in records and actual bags put in.  Thereafter, he was transferred to and job was to count the waves hitting the shore and going back. The report was to be sent by mail to Head office at the close of the day. Since 2nd World war was going o...

Inflation has been a cause of burden on economy of a country throughout the world. Of the main reasons, few are like - Rise in demand of Goods and services more than capacity, exchange rates variations thereby reducing value of money, increase in money supply than economic growth, increase in taxation, CRR rates etc. The burden of inflation is a slow process on the economy by increasing cost of living (rise in prices of food, goods and services ), increase in cost of doing business ( in industry, agriculture). In fact, it grips around almost all the economic activities in the country.  At present, inflation in goods and services caused is due to increase in fuel prices in India. Frequent discussions are observed in press and media at different platforms with different groups ending up with no direction/ solution to the matter. It is understood that the reasons stated are -   i) Cost to the company, ii)  Tax by Central Govt. and iii) Tax by State Govt. Taken toge...

 Hello friends, welcome to world of Ranjan Sethi  Having worked in the Accounts and Finance domain since 1970 in various capacities in Industry, Chambers of commerce, a reputed institute of India (where I worked for a major part of my life), as again re-employed in the same Institute after my retirement. During my career, I have completed various assignments time and again in performing my duties and managed them with hard work, team building and dedication. I have joined the Institute at the time after its inception in 1973 and would like to share my views as to how institutions are built, managed and run successfully. Education is a process of gaining knowledge and skills through studies and training. The first and foremost part of getting this part is by joining a school/institution which can create a student with more skills and knowledge to compete with and make his/her status in the society. Following steps will be useful for incorporation of such Management trai...